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Covid-19 in India: 95% of eligible population given first dose of vaccine

Authorities are now focused on inoculating children between the ages of 15 and 18

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Ninety-five per cent of the eligible population in India has been administered the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, the government announced on Thursday.

Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, the minister of health and family welfare, congratulated the nation on the remarkable achievement in a tweet. India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage crossed the 1.64 billion-mark on Thursday.

The Indian government, however, is ‘rethinking’ its booster policy and will look at the local epidemiology before taking a decision, an official was quoted in the media.

Members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, who met WHO counterparts on Thursday, said India will not blindly follow others on its booster dose policy.

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India’s vaccination drive, the largest in the world, began about a year ago. Authorities are now focused on inoculating children between the ages of 15 and 18. About 800,000 children in the age group have already got the first jab of the vaccine in Delhi.

“We are trying to reach out to children in schools, homeless kids, street vendors and others unaccounted in government records,” said a Delhi government official.

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• India